


The Consequences of Waiting

by newyearsstreamers



Series: Small Amounts [2]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: F/M, M/M, Mutual Pining, Mutually Unrequited, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Ozai (Avatar) is an Asshole, Post-Canon, Sick Sokka, Slow Burn, except toph decides it's sokka, i think it counts as slowburn?, like just a couple sentences, minor homophobia, references to the blue spirit, references to the boiling rock, references to the cave of two lovers, references to the chase, sokka gets sick and invents jesus (but really it's zuko), they both have nightmares and are like :(
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-07-15
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:40:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25274812
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/newyearsstreamers/pseuds/newyearsstreamers
Summary: If looks could kill, Katara and Aang would have killed those two idiots months ago—okay, Aang wouldn’tkillthem, but he was with Katara in spirit. It had been just over a year since the war ended. How could theybothbe so oblivious? And forso long?“They had to have secretly started dating by now,” Toph would say. “I’m blind and evenIcan see they’re hot for each other.”“Yeah, but—” Aang would start.“Even without using my feet,” Toph would clarify. “They’re so… stupid.”Aang and Katara would agree.
Relationships: Aang & Zuko (Avatar), Aang/Katara (Avatar), Iroh & Sokka (Avatar), Katara & Zuko (Avatar), Sokka/Zuko (Avatar), The Gaang & Zuko (Avatar)
Series: Small Amounts [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1812373
Comments: 52
Kudos: 750





	The Consequences of Waiting

**Author's Note:**

> thank u for yeet2 on the last one telling me to write this.
> 
> fair warning: i did not reread this after writing, and i wrote this over several days, so like hopefully everything makes sense. it also doesn't have the same vibe as the consequences of war.
> 
> also! i decided that since the water tribe is largely based on the inuit peoples and the fire nation is largely based on the japanese: the nations speak the respective language they were mainly based on. however, i'm neither inuit nor japanese, and i know little japanese and no inuit, so everything inuit and much of the japanese is based on me looking it up. if anyone knows more about either language, please let me know if i got anything wrong or can just do it better! :)

If looks could kill, Katara and Aang would have killed those two idiots months ago—okay, Aang wouldn’t _kill_ them, but he was with Katara in spirit. It had been just over a year since the war ended. How could they _both_ be so oblivious? And for _so long?_

“They had to have secretly started dating by now,” Toph would say. “I’m blind and even _I_ can see they’re hot for each other.”

“Yeah, but—” Aang would start.

“Even without using my feet,” Toph would clarify. “They’re so… stupid.”

Aang and Katara agreed.

****

For the fifty-seventh time that Sokka and Zuko sparred against each other, Aang, Katara, and Toph decided to watch them. Zuko had his dual swords, and Sokka had decided to go back to the shop and buy the sword made by Piandao.

Sokka would often moan about how much he missed his space sword. When he did so around Zuko, the latter would often pat him on the back and tell him “...that’s rough, buddy.”

Sokka’s response was, without fail, to elbow the laughing Fire Lord in his side.

Since the war had ended, they had been spending time in the different nations. Most of the time was spent in the Fire Nation, due to Zuko being the leader. They had yet to all go back to the Southern Water Tribe. Zuko almost refused.

The group watched their friends—their _stupid, oblivious_ friends—fight against each other. None of them were really skilled or knowledgeable in swordfighting, but it looked like Zuko was winning. After a few back and forth moves between the two of them, including a surprising amount of near hits, Sokka tripped while quickly backing away. While he was down, Zuko put one of his swords just under Sokka’s chin and smiled at him.

“Do you yield?” he asked, panting just a little.

Sokka sighed. “Yeah, yeah, whatever. I yield.” He pushed the sword away and returned Zuko’s smile with a goofy one of his own.

Zuko held out his hand to help Sokka up, and Sokka was swift to take it. Just like that, the goofy smile turned into a soft, slightly embarrassed smile.

Katara turned to Aang and whispered “I mean, come on, _seriously?_ Sokka is so _obvious._ ”

“I know!” he whispered back.

“Wanna go again?” Zuko asked.

“Sure,” Sokka said, trying to look as unaffected as possible while Zuko took off his shirt to cool down.

Sokka copied the action and pretended the blush was embarrassment at being half naked.

****

Sokka knew Zuko had gone to see his father. Sokka knew that visit would most likely not go well. Sokka knew that Ozai would try to rile up his son as much as he could. Sokka knew Zuko would most likely be upset once he returned. So he did the only thing he could think of.

He went to the market with Katara, and together they found as many ingredients as possible to try to replicate a Southern Water Tribe dinner. Zuko had expressed a desire to see their home—without the intent to harm anything, but he had _still_ been unable to visit, due to the whole running-a-nation-and-trying-to-bring-peace thing. So, if Sokka couldn’t bring Zuko to the Water Tribe, Sokka would bring the Water Tribe to Zuko.

Katara could not believe how oblivious these boys were.

Katara and Sokka had decided on five-flavor soup and sea-prune stew for him to try. Once they had gathered their ingredients, ingredient replacements, and a bribe for the royal cooks, they returned to the palace. Sokka gave them the bribe—three bags of rice—and they offered to help the siblings with anything they needed. The cooks also enlisted the help of a couple of the royal servants to keep the Fire Lord distracted and out of the dining room and kitchen until everything was ready.

This included one of the servants forcing Zuko to try on the newest clothes from the royal seamstress. There were more casual clothes, and there were also fancy robes for official business. When Zuko got annoyed with this—after all, they were taking quite a while just to try on clothes—a different servant offered to take a walk with Zuko. Surprisingly, Zuko had obliged, but not until he had put on a set of more informal clothes.

By the time Sokka and Katara had finished making their dinner, Zuko had finished his walk. The servant had walked around the palace and then with him to his bedroom. Zuko sat on his bed.

“You know—” Zuko began as the door opened.

“It’s ready!” Sokka exclaimed. He had a big smile on his face. Zuko watched as the servant returned his smile with a smaller one and nodded.

“What?” Zuko asked. His eyes narrowed slightly. _What are they planning?_

“Just come on!” Sokka said, grabbing his wrist and pulling him out of the room. “Close your eyes,” he told Zuko just before they arrived in the dining room.

“What? Why?” Zuko did not close his eyes.

“Just do it!” Sokka insisted.

Zuko sighed. Zuko closed his eyes. Sokka continued pulling him along, until he let go of Zuko’s wrist for a moment. He heard a chair move back, and then Sokka moved him again.

“Sit,” he ordered. Zuko sat. “Open your eyes.” Zuko opened his eyes.

“What is this?” Zuko knew it was food, but he didn’t know what kind it was. It smelled pretty good, though.

“Southern Water Tribe delicacies!” Sokka told him. He pointed at one of the bowls in front of Zuko. “This one is five-flavor soup. It’s absolutely delicious.” He pointed at the other bowl. “This one is sea-prune stew. It’s equally as delicious. We wanted to give you two options in case you didn’t like one.” Sokka walked around the table and sat opposite of Zuko, next to Katara. When Sokka wasn’t looking, Katara pointed at him and mouthed to Zuko _”it was his idea._ ”

Zuko smiled. Spirits, he loved this boy.

“What prompted this?” Zuko asked as he took a spoonful of the five-flavor soup. Sokka was right. It _was_ delicious.

“I—We knew you were going to see Ozai,” Sokka started. Zuko frowned slightly. “So we wanted to make you something to try to cheer you up after. Since, you know, you keep saying you wanna come visit the Water Tribe. It’s really nice, you know—I mean, technically you’ve seen it.” Sokka could not stop himself from rambling. _How annoying,_ he thought.

“Yeah… Sorry about last time.” Zuko said. He ate another spoonful of the soup. “It’s very tasty,” he assured them.

The three of them ate in silence while Zuko finished the soup and moved onto the sea-prune stew. It was also very delicious, but he preferred the soup.

“So…” Sokka’s voice was very hesitant. Zuko looked up at him as if indicating for him to go on. “If you don’t mind me asking…” Sokka paused again. “What did you talk to Ozai about?”

Zuko choked on his stew.

“Tui and La, sorry!” Sokka cried as Zuko tried to stop coughing. Once Zuko had stopped, Sokka spoke again. “You don’t have to tell us if you don’t want to.”

“No, it’s alright.” His voice was calm. _Thank the spirits,_ Zuko thought. He did not want his voice to show that he was actually panicking. “We talked about, y’know, regular Fire Lord, father-son stuff. He told me how bad I’d do at the job, how I’m a traitor and an abomination, and I told him something that reaffirmed his belief. You know, he really is a horrible father.”

“You’re a great Fire Lord,” Sokka said at the same time that Katara asked “What did you tell him?”

Zuko sighed. “Thanks, Sokka.” He paused. The panic was worse, but he knew he might as well say it. _It’s not like anything will come of it,_ Zuko thought.

Sokka and Katara were both looking at him with wide and curious eyes. He hadn’t really noticed that they had the same eyes until that moment. Though, Sokka’s were somehow prettier.

“I told him that I love a boy,” Zuko told them, nonchalantly. He held his breath.

Sokka choked on his food. Katara stared at her brother. Zuko didn’t know what the look on her face was for. Zuko frowned and then continued talking.

“It’s not like you can’t be gay in the Fire Nation,” he explained. “My dad is just… the worst.” He sighed. Again. 

Sokka’s eyes were comically wide and staring straight at Zuko.

“I—I have to go,” Sokka stuttered. He got out of his chair so fast that he nearly fell over.

When the Water Tribe boy was gone, Zuko quietly asked “What’s up with him?” Zuko gasped. “ _Please_ don’t tell me he’s homophobic,” Zuko said.

“He’s not,” Katara assured him. “He’s just trying to… figure stuff out.”

Zuko nodded. It was a disappointed nod.

“Well, if you see him later tonight, will you tell him I said thank you for the meal?”

“Sure,” she answered. He smiled.

“Thanks,” he said. “Thank you for the meal. I’m going to go to bed for the night.” He stood up and bowed at her. “Goodnight.”

She smiled, stood up, and returned his bow.

Her form was a little sloppy, but Zuko wasn’t going to tell her that. He was honestly still a little scared of her.

“Goodnight.”

****

Katara found Sokka at the turtleduck pond. He had taken off his shoes and rolled up his pant legs, and his legs were slowly kicking in the water. He was leaning back on his elbows, staring at the sky.

“Zuko said thank you for the meal,” Katara told him.

Sokka jumped. He lost his balance on his elbows and his back and head hit the ground. Katara winced.

“Wh—yeah?”

“Yeah. He really liked it.” Sokka smiled softly. When Katara turned around to walk away, Sokka suddenly called out to her.

“Yeah?” she responded.

“Who do you think the boy is?”

Katara almost asked _what boy?_ before she realized.

“I have no idea,” she said.

****

They were being beaten badly. Zuko didn’t even know how Azula could have possibly escaped, but there she was, shooting at their group. His sister, ever the cunning villain Ozai forced her into being, knew when she was being beat. _Same as that last Agni Kai._

She distracted Zuko by blasting fire at Katara and took her chance to shoot lightning in Sokka’s direction.

And it hit.

And he was convulsing.

And he was dying.

And—

It was a nightmare. _Of course_ it was a nightmare. He was one of the most powerful teenage boys in the entire world. It was a cruel trick that he was still waking up sweaty and just barely not shaking from having nightmares.

_It’s normal, you idiot. It’d be weird if you didn’t have nightmares._ some more rational part of his mind supplied.

_Yeah, whatever._ It didn’t make it any better. He decided it was imperative to make sure his nightmare was wrong. _It couldn’t be it couldn’t be it couldn’t be—_

And that’s how he ended up in Sokka’s room in the middle of the night.

Sokka was covered in his blankets, so Zuko couldn’t actually see him, but he could hear Sokka’s breaths and could see the blanket moving up and down with them. He could also hear Sokka snoring softly. He sighed contently, and he quietly left the room.

_He’s okay he’s okay he’s okay._

****

Zuko found them. Again. And again. And again. It was really starting to get on his nerves. How dare he be able to find them so often? It wasn’t fair. They were all smarter than that. They had gotten better at their evasion skills. 

So how did he find them? It wasn’t a question Sokka would be able to answer.

It wasn’t like it would matter. Whenever Zuko found them, it was a problem.

No matter what, whenever the scarred Fire Nation prince found them, he attacked. 

This time, it was an ambush. They had been sleeping, and even Toph had failed to notice the people surrounding them. The four of them—Toph, Sokka, Katara, and Aang—had been awoken by the ring of fire around them and subsequent yelling. Immediately, the benders in the group started trying to defend themselves, but the attacking firebenders were winning.

And it was Zuko that did it.

It was Zuko who made the shot.

It was Zuko who sent fire billowing towards Sokka.

It was Zuko who was burning Sokka.

It—

It was a nightmare. _Of course_ it was a nightmare. He was one of the most powerful teenage boys in the entire world. It was a cruel trick that he was still waking up sweaty and just barely not shaking from having nightmares.

_It was just a dream,_ he promised himself. He didn’t know why he dreamed about Zuko like _that._ None of his nightmares lately had featured the Zuko from before he joined their group. He had stopped dreaming about that version of his friend just shortly after Zuko joined them.

_It wasn’t real._ He knew it wasn’t real.

_Zuko wouldn’t do that. He isn’t like that anymore._ He knew that Zuko had changed.

It didn’t stop him from panicking when he heard footsteps approaching his door. It didn’t stop him from hiding under his blankets like he was a scared little boy instead of a brave warrior. He had led men into battle and invaded the Fire Nation, for Tui and La’ sakes.

When the door opened, he pretended to snore. He didn’t need whoever was now in his room to know he had a nightmare.

And then he heard the sigh, and he knew it was Zuko. Sokka had to stop himself from launching from under his blankets. He just wanted Zuko to tell him anything and everything he wanted to hear.

He wanted Zuko to tell him that he would never hurt them. _He knows Zuko would never hurt them._

He wanted Zuko to tell him that everything would be okay. _He thinks everything will probably be okay whether or not Zuko confirms it. It would just be nice to hear him say it._

He wanted Zuko to tell him that he is _the_ boy. _He determines that he is not_ the _boy._

****

Sokka is almost purposely avoiding Zuko the next day, and Zuko cannot figure out why. He assumes he did something he shouldn’t have, but he can’t get the Water Tribe boy to stay in the room long enough for him to finish saying “Sokka.”

Sokka is only sort of avoiding Zuko the next day. Sometimes, he really _does_  
have something that he has to leave the room for, like the time Toph called him to tell her what was written on a paper she stole from Aang’s bag—it was an expired coupon for half off a pack of fire flakes from the playhouse on Ember Island; Sokka went ahead and threw it away for him—or like the time that Katara had asked him opinion on her outfit for her and Aang’s date. Sometimes, though, he really is just avoiding Zuko. He doesn’t really even have a reason for avoiding him, but he feels like leaving as fast as he possibly can whenever the Fire Lord enters the room. A couple times, he catches a glance at Zuko’s face as he runs away, and he hates the sad look the boy wears.

Now, he was hiding at the turtleduck pond again. Sokka was really surprised Zuko hadn’t found him here yet just by making his own visit to the pond he loved. At that moment, he was hunched over with his legs in the water. He didn’t even bother to take off his shoes or roll up his pant legs this time; he really didn’t care. His elbows were on his knees and his chin was on his palm. Watching the turtleducks was calming, but he still felt at least moderately unhappy.

“Why the long face?” someone asked. Sokka had heard the person approaching, but had chosen to ignore the footsteps.

“Genetics,” Sokka deadpanned. He didn’t completely recognize the voice, but he didn’t bother looking for the source either until it sat next to him. 

Zuko’s uncle, Iroh, let out a hearty laugh. Sokka let out a chuckle of his own. He knew his jokes were funny, but they weren’t usually met with _this_ kind of reaction. 

It was nice.

“Is something on your mind?” Iroh asked.

Sokka sighed and paused for at least an entire minute before deciding to respond. _Whatever, might as well come out with it._

“Zuko,” Sokka started. “I had a nightmare last night, and I know he’s changed, and I _know_ he’s good now and wouldn’t intentionally hurt us, but it was so _real._ I’ve kind of been… avoiding him?”

“I see…” Iroh said. “Do you often have dreams like that?”

“Of Zuko attacking us again?” Sokka asked. Iroh nodded. “Not for a really long time. They stopped a little after he joined us.”

Iroh didn’t say anything for a moment. “Has anything changed?”

“Changed?”

Iroh nodded. “Has anything changed with Zuko? Even the tiniest thing may have an effect.”

Sokka sighed. “He talked to Ozai yesterday. He told him that he’s in love with a boy.”

“Ah, yes, he told me that months ago.” Iroh paused. “Do you have a problem with it?” His voice was nonjudgemental. Sokka liked that about Iroh. Sokka still snorted at the question, though.

“Absolutely not,” Sokka told him. “I _hope_ that he likes a boy; I just want _me_ to be that boy, but I know I’m not.”

Iroh gave him a sympathetic look. Sokka took it as a confirmation that he was, indeed, not the boy.

“Your spirit feels betrayed, most likely,” Iroh concluded.

“Betrayed? But Zuko hasn’t done anything wrong.”

“Indeed, he has not. The human spirit is fickle, though, and it can be quick to misunderstand. How do you feel about ‘not being the boy?’”

“I don’t know, sad? Maybe a little disappointed?” Sokka pondered. His eyes went wide. “Not disappointed in Zuko, though!” he said quickly. He knows one can’t control who they love.

“Your spirit seems to have taken those feelings and morphed them into something it might understand better.”

Sokka sighed. “Stupid spirit,” he muttered.

Iroh chuckled. “Would you like some tea?”

Sokka smiled and nodded.

Neither of them noticed the body on the roof behind them.

****

Zuko did _not_ mean to eavesdrop, honest to Agni, he didn’t. He had wanted to go to the turtleduck pond to give them bread, and had panicked when he saw Sokka already out there. Figuring that Sokka still wouldn’t want to see him, he had climbed his way to the roof and laid down since he still wanted to be outside and near the pond. He decided that the bread might as well not go to waste, so he started snacking on it. By the time his uncle had sat down next to Sokka, he had run out of bread.

_”Why the long face?”_

_“Genetics.”_

Zuko laughed as quietly as his uncle laughed loudly. After that, he tried to zone out. He wanted to stay on the roof, but he didn’t want to pay attention to their roof. Zuko didn’t even know that not much conversation had happened before he accidentally zoned back in at the sound of his own name.

_“Zuko. I had a nightmare last night, and I know he’s changed, and I_ know _he’s good now and wouldn’t intentionally hurt us, but it was so_ real. _I’ve kind of been… avoiding him?”_

Zuko frowned. Did Sokka often dream of Zuko hurting them?

Iroh asked the question for him, and Zuko almost sighed in relief at Sokka’s answer.

_You are the worst at not eavesdropping,_ his mind told him. He knew it was true, but he just waved away the thought.

_”Has anything changed?”_

_Yeah, a lot of things have changed, Uncle._ For one, they weren’t fighting a war anymore. They also weren’t just a banished ex-prince and the Chief’s son; now they were the Fire Lord and the Chief’s son.

_”Do you have a problem with it?”_ Zuko held his breath. Katara had told him that Sokka was fine with homosexuality, but now he could hear it from the ostrich-horse’s mouth.

_“Absolutely not.”_ Zuko let out his breath. _“I_ hope _that he likes a boy; I just want_ me _to be that boy, but I know I’m not.”_

And just like that, Fire Lord Zuko left his body.

_The boy wants to be the boy, the boy wants to be the boy, the boy wants to be the boy!_

If Toph were here, she would think he was having some kind of attack.

****

When Katara’s door was slammed open, she immediately woke up and thrust her bending water at the intruder to freeze them on the wall. The yell she heard was familiar, and she glared at him.

“What are you doing, Zuko? It’s the middle of the night.” If he, for some reason, didn’t believe her, Katara’s sleepy voice was a huge indicator of the time. She unfroze him and put her bending water back in the bowl on the wardrobe.

“Sorry, I can leave if you want,” he offered as he started to turn back.

“No, you don’t have to. I’m already up,” Katara assured him. She yawned. “What did you come in here for?”

“I accidentally heard Sokka talking to Uncle,” he said. He didn’t elaborate.

“Okay…?” Katara prompted.

“Sokka said he wants to be _the_ boy.”

“So just tell him that he is.”

“Yeah, but—wait, how do you know that he is?” Zuko’s face was laughable, and Katara probably would have laughed if she wasn’t still half-asleep.

“Zuko, you’re so obvious about it.” Zuko gave her a slight glare, but there wasn’t any meanness or anger behind it. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. Sokka’s obvious about it, too, so you’re not the only one unable to hide your feelings,” she informed him.

“How long have you known?” 

Katara took a moment to think about it.

“Since your coronation’s after party where you were flustered and called Sokka ‘Hotman.’”

Zuko’s jaw dropped.

“You’ve known the _whole_ time? Agni, am I really _that_ obvious?” The second part was more at himself than it was at Katara, but she still answered.

“You really are. Aang and Toph have known the whole time too.” Zuko choked. “Toph was sure you guys had started secretly dating at some point, but it didn’t seem likely.” Katara heard Zuko sigh. “Did Sokka tell you?”

“...No, I accidentally heard him talking to Uncle.” Zuko gave her a slightly pained smile. “Apparently the reason he’s been avoiding me is because he had a nightmare where I attacked you guys again.”

The look Katara gave him was filled with sympathy, but also understanding on Sokka’s behalf. If she tried to reassure Zuko that she had never had a bad dream because of him, it would have been a flat out lie.

“Yikes,” she said. She honestly had no idea what to say. “You might want to just give him time. He knows you’re good now—we all do—but, you know, all of us—including you—have been through a lot. It can be hard to… cope with, I guess.”

Zuko nodded.

“He’ll come around, you know,” Katara reassured him. “He’s liked you for too long to start hating you over one nightmare.”

Again, Zuko nodded.

“Now, leave, please,” she commanded, pointing at the open door. “I would like to go back to sleep.”

Once more, Zuko nodded.

“Goodnight, Katara, ” he said.

“Goodnight, Zuko,” she said.

****

If Sokka had learned anything from his last boat trip, it would make sense for him to have learned to take precautions to not get sick. He had hated the frog in his mouth, and he had almost hated the wart on his throatal flap more.

And yet, he had seemingly learned nothing. Once again, he went out right before a storm—although, this time he had honestly no clue that it was supposed to be anything but clear skies—and once again, he was sick. Unfortunately for him, the Fire Nation’s palace was quite a bit farther from any frozen frogs, so it would take much longer for him to start to feel better.

Aang and Katara had been the ones to go look for the frogs, so Zuko and Toph stayed behind to keep Sokka company and to keep him alive. Suki was supposed to be visiting soon, as well.

Toph thought he was hilarious.

“Okay,” she said. “Tell me again how you escaped the Fire Nation prison.”

Sokka’s eyes were huge as he nodded enthusiastically.

“Okay, so, basically Zuko got thrown in a ton of ice, right? And then he put the ice in the giant cup of tea outside the prison, except it was bad tea, and it was absolutely way too hot. And these other guys tried to use the ice to escape, but I don’t know, it melted. But they didn’t die! Then my dad just kinda, like, flew in? I don’t know where he learned how to fly, but he did it somehow! And Suki! She also knew how to fly! It’s not fair,” he was mumbling this sentence, “that they never taught me how to fly. Anyway! We all got on the big magic square until Zuko’s sister started trying to kill us. It was not fun, but with the power of The Lord, Zuko beat them! The end. By Sokka.”

“The Lord?” Zuko asked. It had been almost a week since the whole nightmare occurrence, and Sokka and Zuko had both apologized to each other—Sokka for avoiding Zuko, and Zuko for his past offenses. Both assured the other that it was fine. Neither decided to come clean about their feelings though. Both did think about it.

“Yeah!” Sokka confirmed excitedly.

“What is The Lord?” Zuko asked.

“Not what, silly! Who! And he’s some guy named Jeffrey or something.” Sokka said this as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

“Jeffrey?” Toph laughed.

“No, not Jeffrey,” Sokka pondered. “Jessi? No. Jeremiah? No. Jet? No!”

Zuko arched his eyebrow at Sokka’s ramblings.

“Oh! I know! His name is Jesus!”

“Jesus?” Toph repeated.

“Yeah!”

“Is he a bender?” Zuko asked.

“I don’t think so, but he can do some pretty weird stuff anyway.”

“Oh, so he’s you,” Toph deadpanned.

Later, after dinner, Zuko had decided to check on Sokka alone. To his dismay, the Water Tribe boy was asleep but still shaking and sweating. He put his hand against Sokka’s forehead, before remembering that Sokka’s natural temperature would run cooler than what Zuko was used to, so he wouldn’t really know how if Sokka was getting better by doing that. Zuko could still guess that his fever was too high, based on the fact that Sokka’s forehead was almost as hot as Zuko’s regular natural body temperature.

“Not good,” he muttered to himself. He wasn’t quite sure why he felt the need to say it aloud, but he also felt like the near-silence was suffocating him.

Zuko sat on the edge of the foot of the bed and looked at Sokka. For probably the billionth time in his life so far, Zuko sighed as he laid down perpendicular to Sokka.

He hadn’t known he’d fallen asleep until someone’s sleepy voice dragged him awake. It also helped that he was kicked rather hard in the leg.

“Good morning, _anana_ ,” Sokka said. Zuko didn’t know what the word meant, so he assumed it was part of the Water Tribe’s language. When he asked Katara later, she told him that Sokka had called him beautiful. He had smiled a little bit.

_I can do that too,_ he thought. Was it petty? Maybe, but damn if he wasn’t about to both confuse and compliment this boy.

“Good morning, _asahi_ ,” Zuko greeted. He figured “morning sun” was a fitting thing to call the boy who woke him up.

The face Sokka gave him in return was laughable.

“Zuko, did you forget how to speak?” Sokka’s eyes widened and his voice went sad. “Oh no, Momo’s been teaching you things, hasn’t he?”

Okay, Zuko couldn’t _not_ laugh at that.

“Momo hasn’t taught me a single thing, _boku no kenshi,_ so you need not worry about anything.” Zuko, if asked, would deny blushing at calling Sokka his swordsman.

Sokka frowned.

“I gave you a compliment and now you’re bullying me,” he whined. “Zuko _kanogsartok,_ so there!” Sokka stuck his tongue out. Katara later told him that Sokka had called him mean. Zuko laughed.

_”Sokka wa totemo sugoi desu.”_ Zuko said, smiling.

“What does that mean? I demand you tell me!” Sokka was giving Zuko as good of a glare as he could, but he was still sleepy and his head felt cloudy.

“I’ll tell you on one condition,” Zuko teased. He really didn’t have a condition in mind; he was just having fun.

“What’s the condition?” Sokka asked. He was kind of pouting, but it also wasn’t that much of a pout. Zuko couldn’t tell what was going on with this boy’s face.

He pondered for a moment, trying to think of something that could be funny and that Sokka would likely do—which was a lot since he was only half lucid at the moment.

“I want you to sing a song for me,” Zuko said.

Sokka gave him a confused look.

“A song?” he repeated. “Like any song?”

“Any song in the world,” Zuko confirmed. There was a soft smile on his face.

“Okay, okay, let me think,” Sokka said. He hummed. “I got one!” The expression he wore on his face was ecstatic.

Zuko waited patiently for Sokka to remember the lyrics.

_”Two lovers, forbidden from one another—”_ Sokka began before Zuko interrupted him.

“Hey, I know this one!” Zuko said.

The confusion was back on Sokka’s face.

“How do you know it?” he asked.

“I was traveling around the Earth Kingdom for a while before, uh, y’know, I kinda betrayed you guys in Ba Sing Se,” Zuko explained somewhat quietly. He sat up. “How do you know it?”

Sokka’s grin was back.

“I went through the cave!” he said. “Katara, Aang, Appa, and I went through the cave with these hippies who sang it to us. Then Appa broke the tunnel, and I got separated from them and stuck with the hippies.” His expression sobered. “I have never met anyone who I didn’t want to strangle more than them,” he said seriously.

“You knew part of the song is that they _die,_ right? And you still went in?” Zuko was surprised. Their group had seemingly done tons of stupid things while he was hunting them, but even heading towards certain death was a little much for them.

“Well, no. Chong _conveniently_ forgot that part,” Sokka explained. “Besides, we got attacked by some Fire Nation soldiers, so we didn’t really have much of a choice in the matter.”

“Sorry,” Zuko said.

There was Sokka’s confused look again.

“Why?”

“For everything my people have done. We should have been better.” Zuko stopped sitting up, taking on a hunched position instead. _If Father could see me now, he’d—_

“Yeah, you guys should have,” Sokka agrees, “but it’s not like it was you who attacked us.” _That time_ was left unsaid by both of them. “Do I still have to sing?”

Zuko hummed as he thought.

“No, it’s alright,” he ceded. “I said that you’re really amazing.”

Sokka beamed. “Hey, you’re amazing too!”

Zuko smiled, and then neither of them spoke for several moments.

“I wanna give you a nickname,” Sokka decided. Zuko chuckled.

“Go ahead,” he said, “but I reserve the right to say you can’t use certain ones.”

“Okay,” Sokka agreed, “that’s fair.” 

The Water Tribe boy was cute as he thought of names. _Shut up,_ Zuko told himself.

“What about, uh… Fire Lord?” Sokka’s voice was excited.

“Sokka, that’s my actual title,” Zuko deadpanned.

“Oh, yeah,” Sokka said. _He really needs those frogs, huh?_

Sokka thought again.

“Okay, how about _illa?_ It means ‘friend’ in the Water Tribe,” Sokka translated.

“Maybe,” Zuko said, smiling. ¨What else?”

“Koko?”

“No, that’s a girl’s name.”

“Zuzu?”

Zuko sat back up and froze. The smile fell from his face, and Sokka decided he never again wanted to see the new face he wore.

His new face showed only sadness and fear and anger and bitterness and longing.

“Please don’t call me that,” Zuko told him quietly. Sokka nodded.

“Okay,” he said. “I’m sorry.”

Zuko waved a hand at him.

“It’s fine, you don’t know—” Zuko cut himself off with a slightly shaky sigh. “I’m just going to go back to my room. I’ll see you later.”

The boy was gone before Sokka could say or do anything else.

_Stupid, stupid, stupid,_ they both thought of themselves.

****

Zuko had accepted Sokka’s apology—even though he didn’t really do anything wrong, cause how could he know that’s what Azula always called him?

Sokka and Zuko did not see each other until after Katara and Aang returned with the frogs.

****

“You know,” Katara started, “for as much as Sokka talks about us and our ‘oogies,’ he really can’t be any less obvious, can he?”

She, Aang, Toph, and Suki—who they had picked up on the way back—were sitting in the garden. Sokka hadn’t quite finished recovering yet, so he was still in bed and likely sleeping at the moment. They didn’t know where Zuko was—they assumed he was in a meeting and decided to leave him alone—so now seemed like the perfect time to talk about their ignorant friends.

“Oogies?” Suki asked, laughing. “What’s happening with Sokka?”

“Oogies are what Sokka calls it whenever Katara and I do anything affectionate,” Aang answered.

“Or anything, honestly,” Katara added.

“Yeah,” Aang confirmed.

“And ‘what’s happening with Sokka’ is that he and Zuko obviously have the hots for each other, but neither of them see it, somehow,” Toph answered.

“Wait, I thought he was with that other girl? The girl who pretended to be a Kyoshi Warrior?”

“Mai,” Katara supplied. “And yeah, they were dating, but they broke up, and neither of them told us why.”

“Probably ‘cause Zuko realized he wanted some Water Tribe meat,” Toph said. “I mean, seriously, he didn’t break up with her very long after the ‘Hotman’ incident.”

“Oh, I remember that!” Suki chuckled. “It’s been that long, and they _still_ aren’t together?”

“Yep,” Toph said, popping the ‘p.’

“What are they waiting for? Does Sokka need one of us to ask Zuko out for him like we’re fourteen?” Suki joked.

“Hey!” Aang and Toph said in unison, before they both laughed along with her.

Aang was the only one to notice when the eavesdropper left.

****

“Hey,” Aang grabbed Zuko’s sleeve with his empty hand as the latter emerged from his room. Zuko stopped walking.

“Hey, Aang,” he responded. The Fire Lord looked the Avatar up and down before asking “How long have you been standing there?”

“Just a few minutes,” Aang told him. He ate one of the crabapples he had in his other hand.

“Oh,” Zuko said. Aang stuck out his hand to offer him a crabapple, and he silently shook his head. “Did you need something?”

“Yeah, I wanted to talk to you about something,” he said, and then he pointed back in Zuko’s room. “Can we go in?”

Zuko nodded.

“Great!” Aang said, beaming.

Aang took it upon himself to sit on the edge of Zuko’s bed, and Zuko decided he wanted to sit at his desk in the corner.

“So,” he started, “what did you want to talk about?”

“You and Sokka,” he said, and he heard his friend groan quietly.

“What about me and Sokka?”

“I know you heard us talking,” Aang informed him. “I heard you on the roof.” 

Zuko sighed.

“Why don’t you just tell him?” Aang’s voice was soft. Zuko almost missed it’s usual playfulness.

“I can’t,” he responded. He put his elbow on the desk and his head in his hand. “I’d just ruin everything.”

“How? You heard us say Sokka likes you too.”

“Just because you like someone doesn’t mean you should be with them.” Zuko paused. “I spent almost an entire year terrorizing you guys and trying to capture you for my father. Do you know what would have happened if I had succeeded?”

Aang remembers what Zhao had told him and nods. _So I’ll keep you alive—but just barely._

“It wasn’t even just then that I was looking for you. I was trying to capture you for _three years_ before you came back.”

“Why?” Aang asked.

“I was banished,” Zuko said simply.

“Yeah, I know that, but why?”

“I disrespected my father.” He knows Aang knows the story. He doesn’t know what Aang’s point is. “I told him we shouldn’t sacrifice the new recruits, and then I refused to fight him, so he banished me.”

“Yes, he did,” Aang said, “because you had good in you.”

Zuko furrows his brow at the comment. He _knows_ and had finally accepted that his father was wrong, but he couldn’t really see where Aang had drawn that conclusion.

“You stood up for your people, even though you knew there would be consequences. Maybe not the consequences you thought, but you were still punished for speaking up for what’s right. And whenever you attacked us,” Zuko frowned and Aang ignored his apology, “you never really hurt anyone. Sure, you burned stuff, but you didn’t injure anybody. Plus, you freed me from Zhao.”

“Yeah, well that was for my own selfish purposes.” At Aang’s cocked head, Zuko elaborated. “I freed you so that I could be the one to capture you. Obviously, it didn’t go so well.”

_The Avatar has escaped!_

_Open the gate. Let them out, now!_

_Knock out the thief, I’ll deliver him to the Fire Lord along with the Avatar._

_The two of us, we’d get in and out of so much trouble together._

_If we knew each other back then, do you think we could have been friends?_

“No kidding,” Aang said. “But you still let me go. You helped us against Azula when she was chasing us all over the Earth Kingdom—”

“I was attacking you right before then,” Zuko interrupted.

Aang continued as if Zuko didn’t say anything.

“—and you freed Appa in Ba Sing Se.”

“To be fair, that was more of Uncle’s idea, and I was sick for days after. Apparently I wasn’t a good enough person then to be able to do one good deed and _not_ pass out.” Zuko’s voice was sardonic.

“Still,” Aang started. “Even though you’ve done plenty of bad things, you’ve also done good things. You joined us in defeating the Fire Lord and Azula. You helped Katara confront her mom’s killer. You went with me to find the Sun Warriors and learn firebending from the source. You helped free Sokka and Katara’s dad and Suki, as well as a few others.”

“Yeah, but—”

“Zuko, none of us really dwell on that part of your past anymore. We know you’ve changed and become a better person—a _good_ person—and we know you regret doing those things.” Aang paused. “We like you, and we _trust_ you, and at this point, it’s probably safe to say that Sokka loves you.”

Zuko’s breath caught.

“None of us will tell him for you, but spirits, I hope that one of you says it soon. For both of your sakes,” he said.

Zuko nodded.

“Thank you.” He walked over to his friend and hugged him. Zuko smiled. “I think I’ll tell him soon.”

Aang smiled back.

“Now, come name the turtleducks with me!”

****

Zuko didn’t know why he was there. He shouldn’t be there. He didn’t want to be there. He wanted to be anywhere else. He needed to do this.

“A visit from the Fire Lord? How nice. To what do I owe the _pleasure?_ ” The last word was spat out.

“You owe the Avatar,” Zuko responded coolly. “You should be glad the only thing he took was your bending.”

“Oh yes,” Ozai said. “All hail the _Avatar._ I’m surprised they let traitors run the nation.”

“Yes,” Zuko started. “It’s very shameful that they let a traitor like you lead the people for so long.”

Ozai stood up, the anger clear on his face.

“ _I’m_ the traitor?” he shouted. “You’re the one who sided against the Fire Nation twice! You’re the one who ended this war! We were going to save the world!”

“And you’re the one who sacrificed thousands of lives for _nothing._ That’s not even including the lives lost from the other nations. _I’m_ more loyal to our people than you could _ever_ be, because _I’m_ the one allowing them to come home and not die or murder for a bunch of propaganda! _You_ sent them all to die! If one of us saved the world, _I_ was the one who did it.”

Ozai glared at him, but he also appeared pleased. Pleased that he’d gotten the reaction he wanted.

“For our nation,” he said. “There is nothing more honorable than dying for our nation.”

“You know nothing of honor,” Zuko said. “You maimed me for defending our people. It was the least honorable thing you could have done.”

“Perhaps I should have been harsher. Even as Fire Lord, you still have learned nothing of respect or honor.”

“Funny,” Zuko chuckled darkly. “I could say the same about you.”

Ozai exhaled loudly and angrily.

“Did the oh-so-esteemed ‘new-and-improved’ Fire Lord really come here to argue over honor?” Ozai asked. Then, after a second, he added “How petty.”

“No, that’s not why I came down here,” Zuko responded. “I came down here to tell you that I’m going to ask the boy out.”

“You’re disgusting,” Ozai told him.

“You’re the one sitting in dirt and crumbs, amongst other things,” Zuko retorted.

“I should have killed you as an infant like I was going to.”

“What a shame you didn’t,” he said.

“Do you know why I didn’t?” Ozai taunted. “Your mother _begged_ me not to. She was weak, just like you are. The only reason I didn’t is that you _finally_ had the spark after several days.” Ozai tsked. “Too bad your mother left you anyway.” He wore a smile, but it was full of malice.

Zuko exhaled quietly. He wasn’t going to let his father get to him anymore.

“You know,” he said, “that’s a really nice story. I hope you have fun telling it to yourself for the rest of your life.”

Ozai, for once, didn’t say anything.

“The world, the Fire Nation, and the boy and I will be very happy without you,” Zuko said, giving Ozai his parting words.

****

The moment Sokka had finished recovering, he bolted for Zuko’s room. Except, Zuko wasn’t there, so Sokka sat on his bed. But then Zuko took _forever_ to come back, so Sokka fell asleep.

He did not wake up when someone tucked him into the bed.

He did not wake up when someone climbed into the bed next to him.

He did not wake up when someone accidentally kicked him in their sleep.

He did wake up when someone shook him vigorously.

“Wake up, Sokka!”

Tui and La, Sokka loved that voice.

“I’m up, _illa,_ I’m up!” He rolled over on his back and looked up at the boy smiling brightly over him.

“Good morning, _asahi!_ ” Zuko greeted.

“What’s got you so happy?” Sokka asked softly. His large smile was evident in his voice.

If it was anyone else, Zuko might have gotten offended at the question. Instead, he smiled impossibly wider.

“I got to go to sleep _and_ wake up next to an absolutely gorgeous boy.” Sokka’s breath hitched. “Can I tell you something?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” Sokka said. “Anything.”

“I very much want to kiss you,” Zuko said.

Sokka beamed. Sokka reached over and _finally_ kissed the boy he’d been wanting to kiss for a year.

****

It took them only a week for them to say _I love you_ to each other.

They had finally gone to visit Sokka’s home, and Sokka had just looked _so beautiful_ in his tribe’s clothes that Zuko could barely contain himself.

He almost yelled it out in the middle of dinner.

He did not.

He did, however, tell his new boyfriend that he loved him when they had gone to bed. Zuko wasn’t sure if Sokka had fallen asleep yet, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted the other boy to be awake to hear it.

Sokka was awake.

Sokka did hear it.

Sokka kissed Zuko’s forehead and said it back.

Zuko went to sleep happier than he could remember ever being.

**Author's Note:**

> i would just like to say that the google doc i wrote this on is 28 pages long and titled "murder couple ✨💕" for aang and katara in the very beginning
> 
> if anyone wants a part three or anything, please let me know! and let me know what you would want in it, cause ideas? not my strong suit
> 
> also, please let me know of any other tags that apply. i don't write a lot so i'm bad at knowing tags 
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed! :)


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